Share

A record-breaking hot summer has not deterred bargain hunters from roughing it overnight to be first through the doors of a number of trade fairs in Hong Kong.

The latest example is the Computer and Communications Festival, organised by the Chamber of Hong Kong Computer Industry, which opened at noon on Friday. More than a dozen people slept on newspapers and another 100 or so began forming queues from early in the morning outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

They were drawn by the big bargains on offer at these trade shows.

But for many, disappointment was in store, after a printing mistake by exhibitor Cosmic Technology Limited claimed the first 100 visitors each day would be able to get a laptop worth HK$1,799 for HK$99. It should have said HK$999, though the mistake was only corrected when the first people arrived.

Lau Din-wang, at 74, may have been the eldest in the queue of mostly young people. He had travelled from Sha Tin in the hope of bagging a bargain laptop.

“[The fair] wasted my time and money [for the entry]. Why don’t they tell media earlier when they found the mistake?” Lau said.

“Everyone makes mistakes, but the attitude is important. It would be OK if they dealt with it in time and informed the public. [The fair] cheated us.”

From limited editions books and comic products at the Book Fair and Ani-Com and Games show last month to HK$1 abalone at the Food Expo last week, queues outside the exhibition centre have become a key feature of these shows.

But while some come for the bargains, others are more frugal. One visitor, who gave his name as Leong and was in his 30s, said he had attended all four of the recent fairs.

“I only read books at the book fair and only took photos at the Ani-Com and Games festival without spending any money,” Leong said, though added that he did contribute to the fairs by filling up on about HK$200 food before leaving the Food Expo.

“I’m not only poor, but lazy, so I cannot camp overnight to get those bargains,” he said.

Among the other attractions at yesterday’s fair was the world’s first drone with intelligent flight control options by hand gestures, introduced by DJI, and the first perspective smart glasses for drones which can also be used as private theatre.

Logitech, the festival’s appointed e-sports brand, will provide the first 50 visitors each day with a K380 multi-device bluetooth keyboard, which sells at HK$299.